Driven: Honda Jazz Si Review

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Driven: Honda Jazz Si Review

After a week-long test drive with the Honda Jazz Si here is what we think of this city car from the Japanese manufacturer.

What is the Honda Jazz Si all about?

The Jazz is the smallest car offering from Honda and comes with only two engine choices a 1.2-litre or a 1.4-litre engine. Once you have chosen your engine, there is then a selection of six trim levels, on test we had the 1.4-litre Si model.

The Si is the sportiest looking of the range and has additional features over the base models that include 16 inch alloy wheels, sports suspension, a sporty body kit including front and rear bumpers, side skirts, and finally front fog lights. The Si model, in my opinion, is by far the best looking of the Jazz range and could possibly help the Jazz appeal to a younger audience.

The is powered by a 1.4-litre i-VTEC engine that creates 99bhp and 127Nm of torque. There is a five speed manual gearbox putting that power to the front wheels. This means that the car will get from 0 to 60mph in 11.8 seconds and will do a top speed of 113mph; but also means it is able to return an economy rating of 50mpg.

Honda Jazz Si – How does it drive?

Behind the wheel of the Honda Jazz was a different experience to what I expected. In Si trim the sports suspension, along with the 16 inch alloy wheels, makes the ride feel considerably harder than you would get in other variants of the Jazz, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it does give the car a sportier and more responsive handling feel.

One of the beauties of driving the Jazz is just how lightweight and friendly all the controls are. In particular, the steering, which works well when it comes to parking and driving in complicated or busy environments. The Honda Jazz also has an exceptionally small turning circle, which in many ways just makes life simpler. The disadvantage of the light steering is that it does take away some of the feedback from the driver. But I believe they have made the right decision for this car in removing some of the feedback in exchange for effortless driving.

The 1.4-litre i-VTEC engine has 99bhp, so doesn’t have the straight-line performance to match the handling capability of the Si sports suspension. But we need to remember what the Jazz is all about; it’s supposed to be a small, practical and fun car to drive. So although the Jazz doesn’t have lots of straight-line performance, it’s still fun in the corners and returns exceptional mpg.

What is it like inside?

Inside the Honda Jazz is pretty good, the dashboard has a very simple layout that anyone could instantly use without even thinking about it. One of the real selling points about this car is just how intuitive everything about the interior is. Everything is where you would expect, it performs how you would expect, and it is instantly responsive. There are no complications, no reading the manual, and no time wasted…perfect.

There was also a decent amount of room inside the car, you can easily get four adults in comfort in the car, and the boot has plenty of space for what a city car will typically be used for. If you need more room in the back, the seats can be folded forward to lie completely flat, which hugely increases the boot space. The Jazz is also fitted with magic cinema like rear seats where the base of the seats can be folded up. This allows you to store tall objects in the rear passenger area and actually adds a huge amount of practicality. Very impressive.

The Honda Jazz Si Experience

The Honda Jazz Si experience is one of the friendliest I have come across. I am confident that you could put anyone with a driving licence into the Jazz and they would easily be able to work all the controls and be able to enjoy driving the car. The Jazz feels like it has been designed just to be your partner in everyday life – the cars economical, exceptionally practical and because of its small perky driving experience is also pretty fun to drive.

Verdict – Honda Jazz Si

The Honda Jazz in the Si trim, I believe, will be a great seller to younger markets, and I really feel that Honda have put together a good package. The car seems to have it all. If you’re after an affordable small car with good economy, good practicality, but still with a sporty and quirky edge then the Jazz Si could be the one for you.

Honda Jazz Si 1.4 i-VTEC Manual 7 Day Diary

Day 1 – Honda Jazz Si First Impressions

Taking my first look around the Honda Jazz Si it looked a lot more appealing than I expected from looking at previous generations of the car. The Si model is kitted out with new front and rear bumpers and has side skirts making the car look lower to the ground.

Day 2 – First Proper Drive in the Car

Behind the wheel of the Jazz, it is one of the simplest and most welcoming cars I have ever driven. The controls are all well-tuned to be easier for city driving. The steering is nice and light, the pedals feel gentle underfoot and the gearshifts are really nice and smooth. When taking the car out for a drive one of the first features I noticed was that the Jazz comes with an economy indicator that will advise you when to change gear to drive most efficiently, which is a great little feature and left me surprised by how much more efficiently I could be driving.

You can buy the Honda Jazz in the UK with one of two engines, a 1.2 or 1.4-litre petrol engine. The Jazz Si on test was powered by the 1.4-litre engine that creates 99bhp and 127Nm of torque. The car was fitted with a manual gearbox that gets the Jazz from 0 to 60mph in 11.8 seconds and does a top speed of 113mph. The really good news is that the i-VTEC engine can return over 50mpg.

Day 3 – Evening Photoshoot

We took the car out in the evening to do a photo shoot of this modern city car around Birmingham’s central business district. The Honda Jazz works really well as a city car purely because of its small footprint. But you can still get four adults inside the car in comfort and some stuff in the boot, so although it is very small it is still very usable. Taking the car around town the pearl white paintwork makes the car look very crisp, very well designed, and I do actually quite like some of the Si sports styling features such as the rear bumper.

Day 4 – Caught in Traffic

I have been using the Honda Jazz to get to the office and back all week, 4 days in and I’d found it exceptionally easy to drive and a pleasure through the busy streets of Birmingham. But on this day I got caught in some horrific rain, which bought bad traffic with it. This meant that I was stuck in the car for around 90 minutes. Spending a lot of time in the car gave me the opportunity I needed to play with the features inside the car.

The inside of the dash is a perfectly simple design with nothing more complicated than radio and heating controls across the centre of the dash. I quite like the simplicity of the interior, and although there isn’t that much equipment to play with, the customers that buy the Jazz will be buying it for the low price point and easy operation, so it does the job perfectly in that respect.

Day 5 – Super Practical

So testing the car all week with everyday life tasks you get to try all kinds of different tests out. Throughout the week I have had the car full of people, a boot full of camera gear, and a couple of large tripods and bags, among other things, thrown in too. Although the car isn’t huge, the space that you do have is very useable and the cinema-like magic rear seats can really make the difference – when you don’t have people sitting there of course!

Day 6 – Jazzy City Centre Shoot

Myself and photographer, Ross Jukes, took an early 6am start on the Saturday to try and capture the Jazz in a vibrant and stylish city environment. We took the car to a selection of locations that we felt helped represent what the Jazz was about.

Being completely honest I never really understood the Jazz and found it difficult how this car could appeal to a young audience, but after looking back at these pictures the latest generation Jazz in Si trim might just be a strong move in the right direction for Honda. It’s not a bad looking car at all.

Day 7 – Looking Back on the Week

Looking back on my week with the Honda Jazz Si, I have certainly warmed to the car. A lot of people feel that the Jazz is commonly driven by the older generation, but the Si brings the appeal back to the younger generation who are looking for city car with a reliable badge on the front and a reasonable price.

After driving the 1.4-litre all week I doubt I would choose the 1.2-litre engine over it. The 1.4-litre i-VTEC petrol engine creates a fine line between power and economy and I don’t think altering this balance for more economy would improve the experience of the Jazz.

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